This New Day
by robotwarui
Summary: A closer look at the ending of Advent Children, and a fun story immediately following. Another chapter almost ready...
1. The Prologue

**This New Day**

**PROLOGUE**

His body was slashed, skewered, and all but finished off with a bullet to his back. His final ounce of fight was met with an explosion, and the ground collapsed below him.

Upon sacrificing his life in a battle against evil that would save the world, he was spared from death.

Deux ex machina;  
>A soul in heaven that could not sleep<br>reached out her arm to welcome the dead…

Not a moment later, he was rejected and sent back.

He woke up in a large pool of Holy water in a broken-down church.  
>He was cured of the stigma that his weakness had unleashed.<br>He was forgiven by the two souls for whose deaths he felt guilt.  
>He was re-welcomed by those he had abandoned.<p>

Never had he felt so light. Never had he felt so full.

Cloud Strife… ex-soldier, rebel, hero, beloved, survivor… stood up in the water to face his audience.


	2. The Church

**This New Day**

**Chapter 1** - The Church

"He's awake!"

Dozens of people— strangers, friends, family— were standing on the floor that surrounded the water.

Six children stood with Cloud in the water. They too were cured of the stigma and had been waiting for him to awaken. Another child, standing back with the crowd, looked at him longingly. Cloud motioned for him to come in.

Denzel, his own adopted son, who did not and was not obligated to excuse his reasons for leaving him, still loved him so, and wanted to be cured by him specifically. Cloud scooped up some water, paused a moment to stare at his gloved hands, and poured it on the child's head.

Cloud received warm, approving smiles and cheers from his friends and comrades who had never given up on him.

Meaning to acknowledge everyone with eye contact, yet still the stone-face he always was, Cloud managed to crack a little smile, though he didn't mean to.

This smile meant the world to a certain person. Tifa shot him a look in response. Tilted head, crossed arms, pursed lips with a turn of a smile at the end of her mouth. He didn't process it right away, as he was still overwhelmed by everything, but it got filed in his brain for later retrieval.

Later was about 10 seconds. Within that time, the ghost of the young woman who had saved him and the planet appeared at the door and told him that everything was okay. With her was the ghost of a young man, and they proceeded to leave. He knew them both. Not only did he no longer feel guilt for them, but upon their warm affirmation and happy farewell, he felt a great debt of gratitude that could only be repaid by living.

_Living. The same life... but it won't be the same anymore… _


	3. The Determination

**This New Day**

**Chapter 2**_ - _The Determination

_The smile!_ He turned to look at Tifa- the woman who was wearing his ring but on her right hand; the woman who fought with him on the battlefield and in the house; the woman who knew him better than he knew himself. _Why aren't we together?_ he thought.

* * *

><p>Sure they were <em>together<em>. Two years prior, the night before the dreaded Meteorfall, they found that their feelings for each other were the same. He told her there were things he wanted to say, but couldn't find the words. Her response was "Words aren't the only thing that tell people what you're thinking," which was bold coming from her; just weeks earlier, she had tried but failed to say the L-word to him. So in the darkness of an uncertain future, only their feelings for each other were certain. They consummated their new relationship without words.

The following day they fought along with their comrades, and with help from above, were able to lessen the impact of the meteor. Like many other survivors, it wasn't long before they rebuilt and settled... together.

"Together" ended up meaning everything but; it meant taking care of their friend's 4-year-old daughter, adopting an 8-year-old orphan, running two businesses, early mornings, late-night deliveries and pick-ups hours away from home, 18-hour work days, and on top of it all, guilt. Not survivor's guilt, but the guilt of having had a part in the destruction of countless lives and the inability to fix it.

And then he left her. Not long ago, he left for work one day, didn't come back, and didn't say why. He went into hiding. Already weakened with guilt and self-doubt, he had gotten the stigma, and wanted no one to know. He felt unable to care for anyone.

Upon giving up, he was confronted by evil, and had to choose to fight or to die.

* * *

><p>"Now," he determined, standing in the Holy water, "the past is behind me. Everything lies ahead..."<p> 


	4. The Airship

**This New Day**

**Chapter 3** - The Airship

Cloud ran through the waist-deep water towards Tifa, knocking down a few kids on the way, and splashing Yuffie's shoes and Nanaki's face as he exited the pool. He grabbed his startled woman by the waist, gave her a sloppy kiss, and picked her up. He carried her away in hero fashion as everybody cheered.

Everyone was going home, some with buckets of Holy water.

The "happy couple" hopped onto Cloud's motorcycle and left. They didn't even need to ask; Barrett was going to take Marlene and Denzel back to the Seventh Heaven Bar in his cargo truck—but not before visiting Cid's airship, where the truck was stowed. Cid and the rest of the gang were in the huge cockpit, waiting for Barrett, so they could see Marlene and meet Denzel.

For Marlene, all went as expected. She got hugs from everyone, even Vincent, and got compliments on what a polite/mature/lady-like/blah-blah 6-year old she had become. Denzel, barely 9, didn't know what to expect.

"He's adorable!" Yuffie shouted when Denzel entered. She ran towards him with open arms and hugged him so tight around his shoulders that he couldn't move. Then she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

He wiped the cooties off and then realized who she was. "I saw you fighting that huge Bahamut with your ninja star!"

"No, sweetie, it's called a Shuriken," she said in a soft voice. "But yes!" she proclaimed loudly with a grand arm gesture, "that was me, the Great Ninja Yuffie, Wutai's greatest warrior!"

Yuffie took Denzel's hand and ran him to where Vincent was standing.

"Denzel, this is Vincent. Vincent, this is Denzel, my new crush."

"What a relief. I was about to file a restraining order on you."

"Ha! Don't flatter yourself."

Vincent looked embarrassed but he quickly shifted his attention toward Denzel.

"Don't worry, kid, she can't cause you trouble if you avoid eye contact."

_Shoot! We already made eye contact!_

"What's a restraining order?"

They heard a loud, puppy-like "GRRYEOOW!" from across the room. Denzel turned to look.

Yuffie had stealthily dashed over and performed a sneak-attack pounce on the red furry wolf creature that Denzel had seen at the church. She had her arm around its neck and was vigorously scrubbing its head with her knuckles.

"Denzel!" Yuffie shouted. "Come over here and meet Red!"

"Please let me go. You know I do not like this," Red whispered.

"But I have to introduce you to Denzel!"

"You did not need to ambush me to accomplish that."

Yuffie giggled and gently let go of him.

Denzel approached. "Hi, Red! Great Ninja Yuffie, is he your pet?"

Yuffie and Red both laughed. Denzel was surprised at Red's human voice.

"I am Nanaki. You can call me Red if you wish…"

"And it's just 'Yuffie' to friends like you," Yuffie added.

He continued. "Everyone here… we are comrades… friends of Cloud and Tifa… and now you. Denzel, I am honored to meet you."

"GRRRRRRRR…"

The canine turned tail and ran to catch his seemingly invisible assailant. Out the doorway, and back within seconds, he returned defeated, with hay, chocobo feathers, and Marlene's robot kitty cat toy riding on his back.

Just when Denzel's wonderful day was threatening to turn a weird kind of sour, the robot cat shot a crazed smile at him.

"Top o' the mornin' laddie!"

"Marlene," Denzel shouted across the way, "shut that thing off!"

"I can't doooo that!"

"What? No games, Marlene, just shut it off!"

"I mean it, I can't do it!"

"She cannae do it, laddie."

"I'll shut it off," yelled the pilot, looking mad as he marched over to the sorry sight. Cid grabbed the cat by its neck and held it up to his face. Red escaped and curled up in the back corner. Yuffie knew what profanities were brewing and dragged the kids out to the hall.

"Makin' a ruckus and draggin' chocobo shit onto my deck? You outta yer mind? What the hell Reeve?"

"I'm not Reeve, I'm Cait Sith."

"I'm not Reeve, I'm Cait Sith!" Cid mocked him in a falsetto voice.

"I'm an independent AI."

"I'm an independent A-hole!" the mocking continued.

"I'm a chain-smokin' wife beater."

"I'm a chain-smokin' … hey, she's not my wife!"

"And?"

"Oh, uh… and I never laid a hand on her…"

"Really…"

"I mean, except in all the right places… "

Cait Sith wolf-whistled.

"Don't you play buddy-buddy with me after you…"

Reeve entered, and Cid tossed Cait into the man's arms. "Get outta here."

"Did I miss something?"

"Whaddaya mean 'did I miss something?' All of a sudden, you change into a crazy sonnuva bitch an' use yer 'sophisticated' robot to make trouble on my ship!"

"Cait Sith, were you being a troublemaker while I was gone?"

"I'm sorry, Faither."

"What? Are you a ventriloquist now? Where's the remote? Where's yer Bluetooth?"

"Cait Sith is now an independent AI. Whatever he did though, I'm responsible. I'm starting to think his initial programming was too open-ended. And he still has much to learn."

"Yeah, well, _learn_ him some manners!"

"Cait, apologize to Mr. Highwind."

The robot cat turned his head and hissed at Cid.

Reeve was a little surprised an embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. I think someone's getting some reprogramming tonight!"

"The hell you'd better!"

"Oh, and by the way, the kids want to come back in. Are you ready to calm down and have a _proper_ introduction with Denzel?"

"Of course," he smiled, "let 'em in."

Reeve exited. There was some whispering, and soon enough, Denzel entered.

"Mr. Highwind, uh, hello…" He didn't know what to say, so he just smiled.

_The kid's nervous. I'd better just break the ice._

"So, how did ya like bein' the man o' the house fer a couple o' weeks?" Cid asked.

Denzel thought that was a sick joke. Of course he didn't like it at all. On bad days, he was bedridden from the sickness, and on good days, he'd sit outside, listening at the vehicles passing by in hopes that Cloud would come back on his motorcycle. If asked yesterday, he would have teared up. But today, he was cured, and Cloud was back. Denzel blankly stared back at Cid only because he had no clever response.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't a proper introduction." Cid took Denzel's hand in a firm handshake. "The name's Cid. This is my ship."

"The Highwind, right?"

"You know about the Highwind? Very good. The Highwind is an important airship. She helped us save the world, and all of us here have fond memories of her..." Cid bent down to meet Denzel at eye-level and whispered, "...especially Cloud and Tifa. But don't ask 'em about it 'cuz they won't say anything!"

Denzel became curious, but responded "Okay."

Cid stood up. "But this isn't the Highwind. She's retired. This is my new ship. Her name is Shera. Oh, and ya see that pretty lady comin' outta the engine room just now? Her name is Shera too."

Shera approached Denzel. "Hi Denzel! So good to meet you! Barret's told me so much about you..."

"Barret? Not Cloud or Tifa? Oh, I'm sorry ma'am. Nice to meet you."

Cid jumped in: "Barrett talked to YOU, and not me?"

Barret's heavy footsteps boomed as he dashed over to them.

"Cid, don't get all upset... It's not like you're the one answerin' the phone"

"Or even stepping away from your work when I try to hand it to you," Shera chimed in.

"Get back to yer post, woman!"

"The ship's grounded, for god's sake, and I've already double-checked all systems..."

Cid let out a big sigh. "Whatever."

Shera turned around and walked away.

"When did she get so goddamn bitchy?" Cid said to Barret.

"You mean, when did she get wise to your bullshit?" Barret answered.

They turned their heads and saw Denzel staring at them, wide-eyed and silent.


	5. A Foreword

**This New Day**

**FOREWORD** by Charlie

My sister Mary is a nut job.

First of all: Fan fiction? For the first time? At age 31? Isn't that ship already sailed or something?

It's all my fault. I downloaded Final Fantasy 7 onto my PS3 in 2010 and started playing. Mary wanted to start a game too.

No, it wasn't the first try for either of us. In 1998, about a year after the game came out, we borrowed the game and a PlayStation and played it halfway. I got to somewhere in Disc 2, as did my brother, and Mary had only gotten to the Forgotten City just before the good part. Then the lousy refurbished PlayStation or memory card or something malfunctioned and we lost our games. We figured it probably wasn't worth restarting if we'd soon have to return the borrowed items anyway.

That doesn't sound like we were dedicated fans, but fate and circumstance had taken us away from Gaia for a while, so it just looks that way. Actually, we loved the previous Final Fantasy games. We eagerly awaited the next title, learning about it on the internet, etc. But the series upgraded to PlayStation, not as I expected. In fact, Mary and I had an epic debate about cartridge games versus CD-ROM games. I was stubborn and was determined to not get a PlayStation. It wasn't until I heard that Square Soft switched to PlayStation for the Final Fantasy series that I finally conceded. But by then, I had just gotten an expensive Nintendo64.

Whatcha gonna do? Nothin' for a while- In 1997, Mary went away for her freshman year in college. Her friend Etahn's roommate Günther Michael John had FF7 and showed the ending battle and other scenes to her and some friends.

Mary, who was known as shy and quiet in high school, was able to be bold with her new friends (strangers?) who didn't yet see her that way. She didn't hide her girly side when she asked John something like, "in the game, is there a romantic story with Cloud and Aeris?"

"Actually, it's really about Tifa… blah blah blah…" he responded, something like that.

Mary still doesn't know what possessed her when she asked, "do they have sex?"

John's like, "Well, it's sorta implied in this one scene…"

For years, Mary thought he was referring to the fireworks part of the Gold Saucer Date, which she knew was kind of a weak implication, and thought John was a bit too imaginative. Now we know he meant the scene under the Highwind.

Long story short, Mary comes back from freshman year in 1998 and wants to play FF7.

By the way, in 1998 I was 12 years old, and so the Honeybee Inn was an anxiety-filled experience for me. But Mary told me that in Japan, public hot springs and hot tubs were common. But still I was shell-shocked.

Anyway, back to the part I said was all my fault. So it's 2010 and we both have FF7 saved games on the PS3 internal memory. Mary goes to Google Images to look for "Cloud x Tifa." She found an image that really messed with her brain and turned her into the "nut job" I mention at the beginning of this Foreword. She explains in a post on a FF7 forum:

* * *

><p>… I was searching images of Cloud x Tifa and saw a fan illustration of them about to kiss, and I never saw Cloud so... needy? Don't know the right adjective but it was intense. It stirred up something in me as I reflected on a past relationship where I saw us like them... I felt like Tifa and it seemed Cloud was often cold... but we had our moments. I also saw myself as Cloud, in my new attempts at relationships... like I can't be fair because I'd still be in love with someone else (at that time, I'd not yet seen [Advent Children], only previews, and thought Cloud was having an "affair" with a "ghostmemory")

10 years ago I had brain surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. One side effect that creeped up on me is/was an inability to laugh or cry. Maybe the causes are different, like depression or a coping mechanism, I don't know. But that illustration did stir me up with bittersweet feelings and by the next day my heart was light and it made me feel like I want to fall in love again. (Also got so much energy, I cleaned the house!)

Now I laugh hardy at puns, slapstick, and other stuff. Feels almost as good as... 1 hour of yoga, which feels almost as good as... 15 minutes of... it's been a few years. Guess I have to find and fall in love with my new Cloud (happy Cloud).

* * *

><p>What a nerd. Enjoy.<p> 


End file.
